Not sure what the configuration of varied planets at the time of your birth can possibly have to do with anything - although having read through varied books over the years, I admit that Aquarius does describe me fairly well ..... (not logic alert #1) My first wife; with whom I remain good friends was and indeed remains almost completely opposite in her view and outlook. She is a real fire ball whilst I am relatively cool, she favours a good old eye-ball to eye-ball shouting match over rational debate: (whilst I really hate slanging matches), politically she hangs to the reactionary right of center - whilst I am Liberal / Socialist and to the left. She is relatively high maintenance (emotionally) whilst I like my space.

Yep - I guess ying and yang does sometimes pull together.

Now the dust has settled (a little) - I found the following link from Information clearing house. There is a highly relevant interview with former Reagan aid Paul Craig Roberts. We do have our civil liberties issues over here in the UK - and given that we also tend to follow the example of the US; with perhaps a time lag of maybe 5-6 years, I guess we should worry too - but not as worried as I would be if I happened to be an American right now.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26475.htm

Not sure it's a man or woman thing - just a some people thing. In my experience, a lot of people make one fundamental mistake - this being to presume that 'because I think or would act this way - then so would everyone else'. Hence - an individual who would (cheat) if an opportunity presents itself - will automatically presume that so would you. My first wife was insanely jealous and 'clingy' - yet it was she who cheated on me.

That's life - learn and move on.

I believe that one of your leading democrats Rev Jesse Jackson (probably the wrong spelling) got it about right when he compared the UK political scene to the one in the USA. This was a response to the election of the so called New Labour Government under Tony Blair back in 97: " [...] in the USA today we have two main parties sharing much the same agenda - Republican and Republican lite. You seem to have something similar over here [...]" Not an exact reproduction - you can find the full version within the book by John Pilger - 'The new rulers of the World' 1998.

My point is that you should look to who stands behind your political leaders. Where does their money come from? Where do the advisers come from? what are the business interests of the leading lights of the administration: (for example - the Bush family and many of that administrations leading lights were involved in Oil, not to mention 'security', weapons manufacture and supply etc) Over here, whilst serving members of the Government must declare 'an interest' within something called 'the register of members interests' - this only disbars them in rather minor ways - and then only whilst in office. Officials, advisers and senior figures move in and out of government via something described by many commentators (when they bother to comment at all) as 'the revolving door'. From government - to the board room - then back again. Just in case our glorious leaders still fail to get the message - we also have something called the 'lobby system', which happens to be an industry worth millions and involving a large number of professionals whose job it is to bend the ear of Government on behalf of mostly powerful corporate clients.

Of course, the reality is that such has always been the way of power. Before modern 'democracy' - we had a feudal system in most of Europe. Here the most powerful had the ear of the King (because it was this group who raised the king's armies and their men who raised the King's taxes.) The Privy council is a hang over from these days in the UK. The English Civil War of the early to mid 16 hundreds was largely about a power grab by the barons through the auspices of the early Parliament. It was not entirely the intention to execute the King - just get him to give over more of his powers. The fact that a new monarch (William of Orange) was in place not that long after the war is a good indication of the true intentions.

In conclusion - whichever administration or Government you end up with, chances are that the fundamentals of political direction will remain much the same. Of course - there are times when an administration will break cover and do something 'different' (hence your pre war recession busting public works programmes over there in the 30's). In our contemporary world, we live under a consensus - one that places 'the market' at the pinnacle, and one in which real power rests in the hands of a small minority of super wealthy trans-national corporations - who in turn sponsor and fund the campaigns of our political leaders.

It is not all doom and gloom - see through the BS is the first step - then help others to do the same. Government can only work if a suitable majority remain apathetic enough to not stand against it. Government is indeed powerful - but the people united are far more powerful.

Is this a special place for the retarded to hang out? If so - good stuff - stay over here please where your frankly sub-kinder-garden intellect can't do as much harm ....

You really are a bit of a 'Tonka' - arn't you Mr Truck .....

OOOOPS .... Think I just stepped in some of what you've just posted dude - a big steaming pile of male bovine by-product.

There are innocent civilians in EVERY part of this world. Before you can properly persecute and devalue the lives of people - you must first of all 'dehumanize' them. So ordinary Iraqis become 'Rag Heads' (for example). The Nazis did something similar with the Jews and Russian prisoners of war - hence to many dealing with them - they became something less than 'human' - and therefor it was ok to treat them badly.

"Looking for a real Man" = low IQ / brains in pants / easily manipulated ...

Which 'Liberals' might these be then?! The Holocaust happened - I have met and spoken to several survivors. The European Jews suffered terribly and their population was decimated. Others who suffered alongside them included homosexuals, trade unionists, communists and anyone else who dared stand up against the Nazi tyranny. Personally I have been involved in anti far right / Nazi activities since I first appreciated just where such BS can lead when still a kid.

There are indeed Arab people who spout hate towards the Jews - but said hate has more to do with the actions of what they see as the Jewish State than a historic thread of Nazism. Ironically - there are many Jewish people who oppose the Zionist programmes represented by aggressive settlement expansion. We should remember also that prior to the formation of Israel, Jewish people still lived in Palestine side by side with Arabs and without a great many problems.

What Hitler did in Europe was really the final act of a long history of periodic persecution of Jews on the European continent. At the end of the day, and given what the Jewish people had just endured, it is perfectly understandable that a safe haven and homeland was fought for and won. Personally I absolutely support the right for Israel to exist and for it's people to live in peace and free from attack. BUT - as a nation, some of their people and leaders need to remember that peace and security - which they all should have as a right - requires nurturing and care.

Let's get something straight - in response to the knee jerk "you did it first" response. I reserve the same level of Absolute contempt for the historic empire building, exploitations and just plain old rape and pillage committed by European powers in previous centuries as I reserve for some of the actions of the contemporary global superpower in the guise of the USA. It is indeed a source of eternal mortification for me that it was a combination of the British and Dutch who first introduced a form of free market laissez faire bull***t to our world in the guise of the Dutch and Brit East India company. It was indeed we who allowed the corporate interest to dictate Government policies and actions, who created and made vast profits from the 'golden triangle' of slavery and opium.

Over in the Middle East meanwhile, it was indeed the UK who divided up the ancient lands of Iraq and created Saudi and Kuwait: (because the corporate interest didn't wish to leave such a vast carbon reserve in the hands of one nation). It was largely down to the UK that Palestine is in such a mess too.

Yes indeed - the previous owners of the big global stick do indeed have a LOT to answer for.

The first attack (meanwhile) on the WTC was down to domestic 'terrorism' I think you'll find - and had FA to do with Iraq in any case. I think you'll also find that much of the Bin Laden family were actually in the USA at the time of the 2nd WTC attacks and despite a no fly policy - were indeed flown out of the USA within 24hrs: (Michael Moore, Chomsky, John Pilger - the sources of an alternative truth are out there if you look for them - and certainly help to counterbalance the nonsense spouted by FOX)

I really do feel for all those mainly kids and families of our armed forces we (the USA and UK) have put in the way of harm over in Afghanistan and Iraq. How many must die before we (as in the people of these lands) finally say ENOUGH OF THIS BS!!! How many innocents must be caught up in the firing line - shot, bombed by remote control (drones are indeed a growth area for big business) before someone in charge of all this is actually brought to account for what is really murder?

Two wrongs never equal right. You can't put out a fire by pouring petrol on it. Meanwhile 'the law' is invariably an ***.

Hmmm - certainly is a big lad ....

Seems to me (from the vantage point over here in the UK) that it has been important for the authorities on both sides of the pond to nurture a climate of fear. Under this cloud of suspicion our civil liberties can easily be eroded: (as they have indeed been). Said liberties were hard fought for by our forebears - and once lost, they are going to be equally hard to recover. Yes there are threats - I have no doubt about that. In the UK and for much of my lifetime, we lived under the real threat of 'terrorism' from the IRA. There were many bomb attacks right here on the mainland. Yet - Governments back then did not feel the need to introduce the sort of measures contemporary ones have during this so called 'war on terror' we have today. Ask yourself this - IF we were not bombing and killing innocents (as well as 'the guilty') over in Afghanistan and Pakistan - not to mention having invaded and occupied a sovereign nation (Iraq) UNDER A FALSE PRETENSE OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - just how sever would this 'threat' now be? Obviously the whole invasion thing had absolutely nothing to do with diminishing carbon resources .... well did it .... (?!)

Welcome to the cess pool dude!

A lot of people do the same thing I guess. There are other ways to turn down the mind enough to get to sleep though (apart from the obvious - although I suspect this works better for blokes ).
Insomnia can be a very lonely experience - although with the rise of the internet - I guess it's not quite so isolating as it used to be - provided of course you are lucky enough to have access. When I was a kid I used to read every night - until my eyes got all heavy: (usually around an hour). Later on in life - when reality hit home I deployed that old standby alcohol - but this got almost boring; and as tolerance levels increased - it got more expensive (dammit!!)Over more recent years, should insomnia strike, I just have a spliff. Works a treat. But then we are all different.

Not sure what the appeal of getting peed on is ....

It is indeed - alcohol causes dehydration of the membranes around your brain (amongst others). If you take in extra fluids - especially prior to sleep - then you mitigate for the worse effects of the alcohol and can indeed avoid the headache bit of the hangover. Mind you - this does often mean that you're gonna wake up in the night with a bladder the size of a beach ball ....

Agree entirely.

Speaking as one of those 'lefties' - I believe strongly that the death penalty is ALWAYS wrong. The issue always exposes strong feelings - I know that. An argument I often had with my first wife: (who ironically ended up spending 16 years over in Florida having married an American after our divorce) revolved around this issue. She would say - how would you feel if someone killed our daughter. My answer - and it remains the same today - If I could get my hands on him or her, then I would probably kill them myself. BUT - that would NOT bring my kid back to life. Neither would it in any way put right the terrible wrong that had been done. At the end of the day, with the passage of time - all we would have is two tragic deaths for the price of one.

Then we come to the possibility of wrongful conviction. There are many examples of this from the bad old days in the UK when we used to hang people. I KNOW there are many examples from over in the USA too.

I used to write letters of appeal on behalf of Amnesty - many went to governors over in the States and many came back with some biblical justification ..... The eye for an eye line is not even correct for goodness sake: (even if you do believe in that stuff). It is taken out of contex you see. What the great one was really talking about (if you take the whole quote - and not just the convenient portion) was describing how he/she/ it would judge YOU. Oh yes - and it goes on to say that 'vengence is mine and mine alone'. At the end of the day - vengence is really what the death penalty is all about.